Genetic factors of schi

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  • Genetic Factors of Schizophrenia
    • Being genetically related to someone with schizophrenia can significantly increase a person's chances of developing it. Family and twin studies have looked at concordance rates
      • Kety et al found higher rates of schizophrenia in individuals whose biological parents had the disorder but had been adopted by psychologically healthy parents
    • Evidence to support
      • Shields found that MZ twins raised in different families still showed around 50% concordance
      • Adoption studies have found that when children are adopted because one or both of their biological parents has schizophrenia, the chance of them developing it is still the same. This suggests that genetics are more significant than the environment
    • Gottesman reviewed about 40 twin studies and found that with identical twins there was about a 48% concordance rate, and non-identical had a 17% concordance rate
    • Evidence against
      • No study has found 100% concordance rate, so schizophrenia can't just be caused by genes. Shared environment may cause higher concordance rates in family studies because children imitate "schizophrenic" behaviours. Other factors need to be considered
    • Problems with genetic factors
      • Research has failed to find a specific gene so it is impossible to understand the underlying mechanisms that lead from the genetic risk to the symptoms of the disorder
      • The disorder runs in families and twin/adoption studies had suggested that genetic factors are important. However, Gottesman has shown 63% of people diagnosed with schizophrenia have no family history of the disorder at all

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